The in-depth interviews with Trinity Laban post graduate students and an experienced amateur were intended to gain a detailed understanding of a few individuals’ attitudes to characterisation of both a role and individual arias for a concert. As it is not viable to undertake many detailed interviews of this nature, the use of surveys increased the number of participants in the research. The online surveys meant that there were a greater number of respondents, therefore minimising bias of geographical location and respondents were not purely personal friends of the researcher.

The youtube clips were used because they are freely available, which gives them the potential to be used by singers as a reference point. The footage of my own performing was designed to enable me to critique my own performance and to demonstrate characterisation to others.